New Zealand interested in Aukus alliance

The New Zealand government is considering joining the non-nuclear part of the Aukus alliance, sealed between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. “We were offered the opportunity to discuss whether we could or wanted to participate in the second pillar,” said Andrew Little, New Zealand Defense Minister. “I indicated that we would be willing to explore it. The Minister met earlier this month on this subject Kurt Campbell, coordinator for the Indo-Pacific region at the National Security Council of the United States.

Sharing military technologies

The second “pillar” of the agreement covers the sharing of advanced military technologies, including quantum computing, artificial intelligence and information technology. New Zealand was not offered the chance to join the nuclear first pillar, which it would turn down anyway due to its consistent anti-nuclear stance.

New Zealand’s membership of Aukus “will not compromise our legal obligations and our moral commitment to nuclear disarmament”, insisted the New Zealand minister. On the other hand, he added, a participation in the surveillance technology and radio technology pillar would better protect the New Zealand armed forces, in particular in their communications with their Australian and American allies.

Closing the gap with China

The Aukus partnership is not just about the delivery and future development of nuclear-powered submarines for Australia. The three signatory countries have created 17 joint working groups. Nine of them relate to submarines, but the others relate to other advanced military technologies, including underwater drones, quantum technologies for position, navigation and synchronization (next-generation GPS), artificial intelligence, cyber defense, hypersonic missiles and electronic warfare.

A recent report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute showed that China has a global lead in 37 out of 44 key technologies. The goal is to pool talents and resources to enable America and its allies to close this gap.

The treaty for a nuclear-weapon-free zone

The statement by the New Zealand Defense Minister comes a week after a visit to China by his colleague in charge of foreign affairs, Nanaia Mahuta. Chinese officials clearly expressed on this occasion their “concern” about the ongoing military rapprochement between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The head of New Zealand diplomacy tried to reassure them by insisting that Wellington “was not part of these arrangements” and continued to oppose the “militarization” of the Pacific. New Zealand does not want to jeopardize the Rarotonga Treaty, which came into force in December 1986, creating a zone free of nuclear weapons in the South Pacific.

The treaty includes three protocols: the first covers territories in the region held by three of the nuclear-weapon States (United States, France and United Kingdom), the second requires that the five nuclear-armed States only use, nor threaten to use nuclear weapons, and the third prohibits nuclear tests on the territory of the signatory countries. France and the United Kingdom signed and ratified the three protocols in 1996; the United States signed them the same year but did not ratify them; China signed and ratified Protocols 2 and 3 in 1987.

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